Apple's iMessage messaging and Microsoft's Bing search engine will not be subject to new, stricter European rules at the beginning of March to curb the anti-competitive practices of tech giants, Brussels announced on Tuesday.
At the beginning of September, the European Commission designated 22 key platforms belonging to six digital giants (the Americans Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft as well as the Chinese ByteDance) subject from March 6 to the Digital Markets Regulation (DMA).
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These companies will have to respect a series of prohibitions and obligations intended to prevent abuse of a dominant position, under penalty of fines which could reach 20% of their global turnover in the most serious cases.
The 22 platforms concerned include four social networks (TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn), two instant messengers (WhatsApp and Messenger), three operating systems (Android, iOS, Windows), a search engine (Google), two browsers (Chrome, Safari).
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The list also includes six intermediation services (Google Maps, Google Play, Google Shopping, Amazon Marketplace, App Store and Meta Marketplace), the video sharing site Youtube as well as the advertising services of Google, Amazon and Meta.
Among the new rules, the EU will impose the interoperability of the targeted messaging services.
And Google will be prohibited from any favoritism towards its own services in its search engine results, as it has been accused of doing with its online sales site Google Shopping.
The European Commission announced in September that it was opening investigations into whether iMessage and Bing should also be included in the list, along with Microsoft's Edge browser and ad service.
The Commission announced on Tuesday that it had
“adopted decisions closing (these) four market investigations”
.
These services are currently exempt, but the Commission has clarified that it will continue
to “monitor market developments in the event that substantial changes occur”
.
An investigation, also opened in September, is still underway to possibly include Apple's iPadOS operating system within the scope of the new regulation.